Waste land

I got a message today from my dear friend from home who scold me for not saying Happy Birthday in time. Of course I felt bad, stupid, tried to excuse myself, if it worked out or not I will find out when I actually get home, but till then, I've learned a new thing today after talking to her...that dreams can grow even from trash. Quite strange conclusion after a simple chat with a friend, isn't it? Well you should know that one of our points of discussion ended up with Waste land, a story about an artist who brought a change in people's lives, a story about trash, about intense feelings and happiness, about people and about their small dreams who no one believed would come true, and what do you know, they finally did, all because of the garbage around them....literally garbage.

The entire thing happened in Brazil, a few years ago, and happened for real, in my dream destination, Rio, in the world's largest dump area outside the city (and its not a joke with dream destination, OK ?). Can you imagine people living their lives in garbage, can you imagine people from garbage having dreams of normal clean lives, can you possibly imagine that people living around trash for so many years can become artists and famous all over the world? They didn't imagine it either, but eventually they did.

Not to spoil the taste and let each and everyone discover the beauty of the movie, I'm just gonna write some lines that I can still hear in my ears even though I finished the movie..."I'd rather want everything and have nothing, than have everything and want nothing. Because at least when you want something your life has a meaning: it's worthwhile. From the moment you think you have everything, you have to search for meaning in other things. I spent half my life wanting everything and having nothing; and now I have everything and I don't want anything" (Vik Muniz - the artist that created something from nothing) And to end the post artistically, I would like to thank my loving friend Sabina for sharing the story and to apologize for the late Happy birthday wish, my mom for raising me as a person who believes in herself and her dreams and last but not least I would like to thank myself for being such a great and appreciative girl. Cheers!

Home style 2

Did I tell you that I was in vacation not long ago? And man what a relaxing green vacation. Destination? "No place like home". Of course I will not compare my home with any other place that I've visited but I can tell you that after one year in the desert (cause by the way I've accomplished 1 year in Dubai :D ) spending 10 days in green Timisoara (my hometown) was like a blessing. Now try to imagine this: one big yard with a 20 meter Christmas tree in front of the house, with strawberries and cherries, one cream cute medium size dog running around, a long wooden terrace with flowers, a bicycle in the back, about 3 huge wall nut trees to keep shadow, another 2 black train dogs (tekels) jumping at your feet, a rocker under the trees just perfect for afternoon naps, a huge back yard with all sort of fruit trees and vegetables, lovely neighbors and a fluffy kitty miau-ing every time you come out of the house looking for a little bit of affection. And sometimes I sit and wonder...what the hell am I doing in this freaking sandy place??? :))) Anyhow the re-accommodation is usually taking a few 2-3 days, everything looks so weird at the beginning, and all the daily habits cannot find place in the old but somehow new landscape. And by the time I am back to normal, puf, time to get back to the desert :)) Cruel life. And the fill all the gaps, 10 days home meant this time: party with loving friends, lots of gifts, ridding the bike every day, shopping, seeing a play at my drama club, plenty of walks, eating raw fruits from the very own...tree, quality time with folks, finishing my exams and clearing my studies (YAY I'm a graduate!!!), visiting all neighbors and relatives (or at least most of them), going to birthday party, seeing old colleagues and friends, drinking Silva black :X, playing with my dogs every day, driving my car, keeping in touch with Dubai stuff so that I don't completely isolate myself from the desert :))

Trei inimi ai in tine, muritorule...

Am primit, am deschis, am citit, am lacrimat, am cugetat putin, am impartasit. Fara alte comentarii proprii, o poveste de-al lui Dan Puric:

"Trei inimi ai in tine, muritorule.. Intr-o zi, asteptand sa vina liftul la parterul unui hotel am vazut, intr-un tarziu, cum, in pragul usilor automate care se deschideau, a aparut faptura blanda a unui copilas de o mare frumusete. In spate, discreta ca o umbra, mama lui. Dar, vai, la prima miscare pe care a facut-o, mi-am dat seama ca pustiul suferea de un handicap. Se misca greu, cu o incordare a intregului sau trupusor ce facea ca aerul sa se crispeze. Isi indrepta ochii rugatori spre mama sa si apoi, simtind sprijinul, indrazni sa paseasca. Dar pasul acela era cat o Golgota, nu pentrul sufletul lui, inca nestiutor, cat pentru biata sa mama. Si astfel, de acolo, din lift am vazut cum a coborat dragostea absoluta a mamei pentru copilul ei. Zeci de brate invizibile se intindeau in jurul lui ca aerul sa nu-l sfarame, sau ca privirea curioasa a celor din jur sa nu-i raneasca sufletul mai mult decat o facuse viata. Il apara parca, mangaindu-l incontinuu. Si, nu stiu de ce, in clipa aceea am avut revelatia ca asa trebuia iubit si acest popor roman de o frumusete rara, dar handicapat de o istorie mizerabila. M-am gandit instantaneu ca numai dragostea materna, cu dimensiunea ei absoluta ce putea iubi neclintit in fata istoriei potrivnice, ne mai poate ridica din tragedia prezenta. Dragostea de mama are ceva din dragostea lui Dumnezeu catre om, este acea “dragoste care nu cade niciodata”. Oare, astfel de mame nu sunt in fond niste martiri anonimi, ce zilnic isi ascund jertfa in tresaririle tacute ale fiintei? Si, de ce oare, m-a dus gandul ca la o prabusire dureroasa in gol, la poporul roman ? Pesemne ca am fost rapit de amintirea acelui biet preot de tara care, in timp ce neamul romanesc gemea sub piroanele criminale ale comunismului ce-ncerca sa-i zdrobeasca atata trupul cat si fiinta, indraznea sa spuna :”Ideologiile nu sunt bune pentru ca nu au mama”. Am citit candva o mica povestioara. Se spune ca, intr-o companie comerciala, un om tanar si cumsecade a murit. Mare a fost durerea colegilor sai, cand au vazut ce s-a intamplat, dar mai mare a fost surprinderea cand au aflat, nu se stie cum, ca sufletul bietului om, ajunsese in iad. Iar povestea spune mai departe cum, revoltati, acestia s-au dus pana la portile Iadului ca sa-l scoata de acolo. Dar, cu toate rugamintile si eforturile, nu au reusit. Apoi a venit directorul companiei, care s-a dus la randul sau sa-i roage pe cei care ii rapisera sufletul bietului om, sa-l elibereze. Dar totul a fost zadarnic. Disperati, in cele din urma, oamenii au apelat la episcopul locului, sa-ncerce sa faca ceva. Dar si in fata acestuia, portile Infernului au ramas inchise. Si astfel, peste toata aceasta nedreptate, zilele treceau fara speranta, adancind durerea celor care il iubeau. Pana cand, intr-o dimineata, in fata portii Iadului, cu pasi marunti, garbovita parca de o durere care-i tinea inima ca intr-un cleste, aparu o batranica. -“Tu, cine mai esti?”rasuna vocea, o voce inspaimantatoare coborata ca un trasnet din neantul Infernului. Necutremurata de nimic, decat de propria-i durere, batrana raspunse: _”Sunt mama lui. Lasati-ma sa intru! “ Si abia atunci, ca prin minune, portile Iadului s-au deschis, s-au deschis pentru intaia oara iar mama a intrat acolo ca sa-si salveze fiul. Niciun copil din lume nu a crescut vreodata atat de mult fata de mama lui, incat sa poata sa nu-i spuna mama. Ce sfanta ierarhie! De cand am fost mic si pana-n ultima ei clipa, mama imi dadea un sfat: -“Dragul mamei, nu-ti arata inima oricui!” Si nu stiu de ce, atunci cand imi spunea adevarul acesta, frumosii ei ochi albastri, erau strafulgerati pentru o clipa de o indefinita tristete. Parca ar fi vrut sa ma apere pentru tot restul vietii, si realiza ca nu putea. Dureroasa fatalitate, ce o facea sa-si traiasca viata din inabusite strangeri de inima, infinite griji ce-i marcau necrutator fiinta. O asiguram instinctiv ca totul o sa fie bine. Ca apoi, pe ascuns, sa ma arunc in valurile vietii. Iar viata, imi cerea sa nu imi ascund inima si abia atunci, destinul indiferent o lovea cu tarie, zdrobind-o. Prabusit, dezamagit cumplit de tradarile vietii, ma-ntorceam in mica ei garsoniera. Mama se facea ca nu-mi vede rana adanca ce ma-ngenunchease. Imi facea de mancare, apoi imi intindea masa avand grija sa am in farfurie bucatile cele mai bune. -“Lasa, dragul mamei, ca trece si asta!” Inima mea se refacea incet-incet, oblojita de invizibile si tandre mangaieri. N-aveam de unde sa stiu ca, vindecat, plecand apoi, inima ei ramanea cuprinsa de un suvoi de tristete, coplesita de singuratati. Se spune ca in “realitatea de Rai” oamenii aveau trupul acoperit de haina de har a inimii. Si atunci, oamenii isi vorbeau de la inima la inima. Ce minune facuse Dumnezeu, cand spusese ca “totul o sa fie la vedere!” Dar, ce cumplit ca acest “totul”a fost distrus, mai apoi, prin pacat. Si atunci, de rusine, se spune ca inima s-a ascuns in trup. “Trei inimi ai in tine, muritorule!” spun sfintii, “Cea a lui Dumnezeu, cea a sufletului tau si cea de carne si sange prin care curge viata . Si toate trei bat dimpreuna. Dar atunci cand in tine, inima Domnului nu mai bate, sa stii ca esti in moarte sufleteasca. Dar eu, simt ca langa inima lui Dumnezeu, mai este o inima …cea a mamei. Iar cand aceasta nu mai bate…esti singur!"

Europe, is this you?

Moments like this I realize the main reason why I love school. It makes you think, search, discover, and after months of work and lazy habits I feel it's so damn refreshing. In case you didn't know, I'm still a student, in masters that is, but still it's school. So now, in my last year of master studies, I am preparing my last piece of paper, the final exam, the biggest of them all, the dissertation. Studies are in Romanian, in my home country and about communication in Europe mainly. So my smart ass decided to make a unique paper as final exam (hopefully last one in my early years), Islam in Europe (after so many months of living in an Islamic country that is) Cool books, interesting articles online, live impressions from my daily life, but most fascinating, one impressive documentary which I discovered today :D from my friend Anca, An Islamic history of Europe produced by BBC. I think the history lessons in primary school are to early for the young ones to understand, maybe that is why less and less of the students end up with all sort of lame jobs cause they don't really know what those teachers bla bla in front of them. I think that in order to understand these pieces of history, especially of such scale and so much information, one should physically go there are see it with own eyes. I think that the things that happen so long ago have a tremendous impact in some of the today's people, either Muslim or European or whichever and especially in out today lives, even though we do not even imagine so. I think Europe was right but I think Europe is sometimes wrong now and I think I made the best decision to write about this story, especially after living a piece of life in an Arab country. So to stop writing crap that no one understand probably :)) I'm going to tell you a little bit about this documentary, about our old world history lessons and then hopefully you'll be curious enough to watch it yourself. Islam's biggest impact in Europe happened in Spain with the invasion of vandals and Visigoths, ruling over the Latin country for more than 500 years, but bringing a great progress and a way of life called La convivencia,a time when Muslims, Christians and Jews were living together and building a prosper and equal life for their land, Andalusia. In same or not so much situations were Sicily and France, where the Muslims wisdom brought development from different points of view to the European life, until finally kicked out of their land by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, Europe being taken over back by Christianity. Well enough about this cause I'm gonna spoil the fun and interest of seeing the documentary, even-though there are much more than the above to be discovered in the movie. So to end the post, Enjoy!

Crazy little thing called...

Sitting here in the comfort of my new home, a temporary home, I realize I am alone. Sometimes so alone that my thoughts take control over me, so I find myself powerless under my own mind. What a weird thing this mind, it is fascinating how much it can do with a person and how much we allow it to do, just because we don't have this power to control it. And what is this part of human body if not my own self in the end; so if it is my own self, shouldn't I be able to do what I want with it? Experience, books, advices have proved that NO, not everyone can control its mind. But many times it's the other way around. So what do I do in this case? Do i let myself being taken away by...what do you know...me?!? Now this is where auto inspiration, self motivation and others like that come in place. Music, words, pictures, they all come to help, and this is when I start taking control over myself once again. Talk to me!...I said and so I did. I told myself that I should stop thinking and start living. I freed my mind because I wanted to, I stopped wining because I convinced myself I have no reason to do so, I started laughing because I told myself a joke. Then I went to sleep cause I was to tired to be awake some more.

Mauritius island and the Seven coloured earth

This was for sure one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited in a vacation, but it's definitely after taj mahal on the worldwide atraction list :P Since we stayed in the south of the island, it was quite easy to reach this place, just hopped in a public bus and in one hour we were in the small village of Chamarel, from where we took a not so cheap taxi till up the hill where the Seven coloured earth park is. On the way to the coloured sands we were delighted by the extremely green and wild nature, waterfalls all the ways, climbind up and down on the hill, between rocks and palm trees, just enought walk to make you tired so that when you reach to see the sands, you will feel as free as them and enjoy it to the max. Aparently the composition from the soil is giving the coloures, which is iron and aluminium, from red colours, brown, violet, green, blue, purple to yellow, and even doe the heavy tropical rains from the island, they don't wash away, mix, dissapear...since more than 1960. Now the bad part about this small trip was the weather. Do not let yourselves fooled by the island weathers, cause if there is no sun, just appearing from time to time between the clouds, that does not mean that you won't get tanned...or burned....like I did :D Wear scarfs or cover you neck if having a loose t-shirt and even your nose and forehead if possible. My experience, a cruel neck, forehead and nose burnt...which still shows off after 1 week :| On the way back from the beautiful colours, next stop was Rochester water falls, a hidden place in the middle of the sugar cane plantations, where on the way we found some lovely south african people about which I'm gonna tell you soon.

Mauritius island...planning and impressions

No, no no no no. Definitely not what you see on google images is the right way to express the beauty of this island. That is luxury bulshit that lazy toursist do when getting there, book a 2000 euro hotel and go on yachts every day, playing golf, laying like turtles in the sun...when you can actually go and ride them...the turtles I mean :))
And to clear some first things, the island partains to Africa, even doe it is highly habited by...indians. Apparently with all the invadors during time, in order to populate the island and make money out of it, indian labour was brought from overseas, or should I say overoceans, to work the fields out and export whatever possible to export from there, tea, sugar cane etc. And even if the last invadors leaving a print on the place were british, not everyone speaks english, but for sure everyone speaks french, which was kind of a first for me...to hear indians of all sizes and ages speaking french...


So coming back to vacation types, yes when deciding to spend your vacation on this island, you of course have the option to book an expensive hotel with everything included or not (anyhow it will be expensive) and have all activities within that place, or you have the second option, our option, to book a cheap hostel or hotel in which you will spend time only to sleep and the rest of the day explore the island by bus/foot/car (foot is not really a good decision cause it's quite a big island even if you can barely see it on the world map, but who knows...) And that is exactly what me and my friend did, a cheap but good looking hotel with 22 euros per night per person and travel around the island by bus (again the cheap way to travel in Mauritius, in the condition when the taxi would charge you 10 times more than the public transportation) Of course if you have an international driving license and not afraid of well known crazy indian traffic, rent a car. Problem solved!
Weather? No worries you can find umbrellas and rain coats every corner...cause you would need it. Never in my life even seen so much rain and never ever walked so much in rain. But even weirder than that, one moment it was raining, another moment sun was coming out, in the south of the island it was raining cats and dogs, in the west part it was sunny like hell....For a few moments I found myself in the Bermude Triangle not Indian Ocean :P :))


Mauritius is by far the most beautiful place I'vee seen, a perfect combination of mountains and ocean, all covered in green, could barely see a piece of soil, giving a unique feeling that you are on a piece of land that just pumped out of the ocean one day long ago. We visited quite a few of the natural parks, crocodile park, botanical garden in pout louis (capital city), waterfalls, of course by bus and walking, either on hills and mountains, either in the sugar cane, some good kilometers but surely worth the effort.
My favorite place of them all?
Soon to come the story of the 7 colours of Earth natural park.

The Way - El camino de Santiago

"Life is to big to walk it alone"

I just finished watching this movie , The Way with and by Martin Sheen, and I simply could not go to sleep and forget about it. Well I surely won't forget about it, cause officially it started occupying a place in my favorite movie list.
The story in short words so that I don't ruin the pleasure of seing the movie, El Camino de Santiago presents the story of a father, who seeks to discover his son, or rediscover himself during the pilgrimage to St James Cathedral in north west Spain. A journey where besides meeting people and places, he opens his horizons and pleasure towards life after the lost of his only son.
The story in fact is anyone's story who would decide to do such a thing in life, for whichever reason the person might have, personal or religious.
El camino de Santiago is a thousand years old pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of St James in Galicia Spain, where as the old legend sais, lay the remains of St James, carried by boat from Jerusalem, burried underneath the city called Santiago de Compostela. The route has several key locations, where pilgrims are received in hostels by local people, treated with dinner and given a warm bed to rest over night, in order to continue their journey early the next morning. The modern pilgrimages are done by bycicle or horse ride, but most of the pilgrims still practice the good old walk. During the way, at every stop, pilgrims are stamped on the "passport" the name of the place where they rested, so that by the end of the journey the ones who complete the way, will receive the certificate "The compostela" for accomplishing their journey, with the reason for which the pilgrimage was done.
But coming back to the movie, I strongly recommend the soundtrack, the movie itself and some good lines on the way.
The way you chose in life, of you think you chose, is not at all, cause as said "You don't choose a life, dad. You live one." The desire of having things, material or not, is not that relevant anymore when you lose something bigger than all of those things together, and then..."Most people don't have the luxury of just leaving it all behind."...and carry on. And as Coldplay would say in one of their songs "Just because I'm losing, doesn't mean I'm lost, doesn't mean I'll stop...Just because I'm hurting, doesn't mean I'm hurt, doesn't mean I didn't get what I deserved, no better and no worse".

4 seasons

"Through streinght I found love, in time I found myself in happiness with you..."

During the short cold winter days she loves listening old childhood carols, dreaming the evening out of today's life, going back in the happy and careless past that used to make her smile so much. She can remember everything in detail, every look, smell, every father's word, every mother's whisper, every single day... She's missing that a lot. Trying with every small thing to bring those feelings back, sometimes she succeeds, sometimes it's all in vain, they are gone and keep being like that...gone. And all because of him, because he left early, too early so that a child can understand and deal with it normally. Surprisingly she dealed with it, quite well, but the scars are still in there, hitting so hard from time to time, bringing back al those moments...happy moments. She would be a lie not to appreciate al she's being given everyday, but is that enough, is that what she really needs?
Rains are cold and wet, uncomfortable and so impersonal, but they keep us going. Autumn comes around sometimes and that is when the feelings start growing stronger and stronger, senses come to life, like from a hibernation era; that is when she starts caring more. Everyone or anyone sees autumn as a depresive season, she doesn't, she knows she's coming to life, ready to face the cold with a full warm heart.
Summer days are on, the hot sunshines burn her skin everytime she goes out uncovered. She doesn't really like summer, except when swimming in the deep blue seas with all those tiny creatures. She believes she was a fish in a past life, so she can get lost in the waves for hours, thinking of nothing, numb, just with the embrace and sound of the cool water. During summer the shop is closed, feelings are completely asleep, nothing can disturb or awake them. Maybe short dreams or thunder memories pass by, but they are not that much minded, it's like the sun and summer trends erase all the life in there, leaving the body with only material and carnation pleasures, nothing spiritual.
Spring passes by so fast, she cannot even feel it. It's like a race car that never stops at the light. Senses are easily swept away, the chillness takes over, heart starts beating at normal speed, the memories fade away and all the muscles relax. It's time to rest, enough of feelings over the long cold winter. Body and soul are heading towards sun, towards the summer letargy, for a well deserved state of...high.

She...is me...

Singapore part2 ~ wildlife ~

Such a difference, such contrast, in such a small place. Cause let's face it, Singapore is not that big city-country to visit in weeks and still not see everything. And if first day of the trip was dedicated to the modern side, second day left us breathless and...wet :))) Breathless because of the amazing nature and wild life from the 2 places we visited, wet because it rained like hell but in the same time it was so hot that we sweated like crazy under the plastic rain coats :)
The Botanic garden of Singapore was more than expected. We entered the place, free of charge (there is no fee at entry) and we did not get out for 4 hours, imagine. 4 full hours of walk in the green fresh nature, with waterfalls, with trees, flowers, from palm trees valley to ginger garden, from evolution garden (as in dinosaurs era rain forests) to orchid garden where we paid 5 SGD to enter (5 singapore dolars), with an expensive lunch in the middle of the tropical nature which was totally worth it even doe we paid 100 SGD, the place is a must see if visiting Singapore. We filled our lungs with so much fresh healty air and we took so many pictures that we left the poor cameras one without memory, one without battery, so we decided to keep it down :)) Rain eventually stopped, so we got rid of the plastic rain coates, rested our feet and continued our journey to the another wildlife place, Singapore Zoo. And man what a Zoo. We were imagining we might see all the creatures of the world there, but not running free between the people :)) Monkeys in the trees all around, no cages, parrots singing over our heads, well the white tigers and elephants were separated not left to run around between the people but still, no cages, so much space and so much freedom for the animals, hippos with a huge aquarium and a real stone cave just for themselves...what can I say...lucky to be an animal in the Singapore Zoo. The place is closing at 1800 and we did not have the time to see the entire place, so I missed the zebras and giraffes, but hopefully I'll get to see them in Africa soon :D
So after one full day of nature and animal life, we finished out trip cyclic, back in Chinatown for some more souvenirs and some chinese noodles, after that rushing to the airport to catch our Emirates flight back to Dubai desert, with a huge regret of having to leave such an amazing place so soon...